OAKLAND — With 50 percent of Garrett County’s physician group eligible for retirement within the next 10 years, members of the Maryland Rural Caucus are concerned with the growing shortage of physicians in the state’s rural areas.

Health care leaders and representatives of various rural Maryland counties, The Greater Cumberland Committee, Greater Salisbury Committee and Maryland Medical Society met recently with the caucus.

Donald Battista, president/CEO of Garrett County Memorial Hospital, presented a forecast of physician needs in the county over the next five to 10 years. This prediction included concerns in regard to the domino effect the looming doctor shortage could have on both the county’s economic development and its medical services.

Battista said new physicians typically do not seek out Maryland to establish practices. Many other states offer extensive medical loan forgiveness; have dramatically better medical malpractice climates; provide higher levels of physician reimbursement; and offer monetary practice assistance and incentives to stabilize the community’s medical needs and encourage physicians to set up practices.

Rural Maryland counties simply do not have those resources available, and may therefore be at a recruiting disadvantage in the future.

Several bills are being considered in Annapolis that would use state resources to increase the number of medical school and residency slots so Maryland schools can begin producing more physician graduates. Other bills include inducements for keeping more Maryland medical school graduates in the state and incentives for agreeing to practice in rural areas.

“State government understands the need to ensure a sufficient number of physicians in Maryland and they are being very proactive to prevent a crisis from occurring,” Battista said. “The Western Maryland delegation, as well as the Maryland Rural Caucus, is keenly aware of the importance of this issue and they are doing everything possible to ensure all areas of the state, especially rural counties, maintain an adequate supply of physicians and other health professionals into the future.”

Maryland Rural Caucus is chaired by Delegate Leroy Myers and includes Sen. George Edwards, Delegate Wendell Beitzel and 43 additional legislators from Southern Maryland and other non-urban districts around the state. The caucus exists to ensure rural counties consider legislation unique to their constituents.

Colleen Peterson, executive director of The Greater Cumberland Committee, and Dr. Tom Chappell of Braddock Medical Group in Cumberland also attended the caucus meeting.